What comes next post-COVID: Michael McQueen

The COVID pandemic has been a time machine, with the last 12 to 18 months radically changing business and consumer reliance on some technologies, according to multi-award winning speaker, trend forecaster and bestselling author Michael McQueen.

Speaking at a Konica Minolta hosted webinar, McQueen said the next frontier lies in business connecting to consumers in different ways.

“How quickly things have changed. Technologies that have been around for a number of years, such as QR codes, quickly became of importance and have become a powerful way for businesses to communicate with their consumers,” he said.

“But businesses need to be aware to focus on the trends that count in the medium- to long-term, not just trends that are specific to the pandemic. When examining trends, it’s helpful to understand the difference between ‘paperclip trends’ and ‘elastic band trends’ – the trends that really count versus the non-hysteretic trends.”

McQueen identified three trends that need to be front of mind:

  • The acceleration of AI: It’s no longer futuristic; it’s happening right now. And the technology related to augmented reality is the one to most closely look at from a product packaging, labelling or print perspective.  
  • The way consumption habits have changed because of COVID: With 68 per cent of consumers trying new ways to purchase things in the last 12 to 18 months, 70 per cent of them plan to keep those new habits when the pandemic is over. Within businesses, the direct to consumer model, eliminating the need for retail channels, has become more apparent.
  • The re-working of work: Some of the changes from people working remotely or working from home will stick more. There is now an increase in the embracing of videoconferencing, work days getting longer, and the duration of meetings getting shorter.

So, how can companies set up their businesses in a post-COVID world?

According to McQueen, some key considerations include: not applying 2019 thinking in a 2020 world, think progress not precedent, and that fundamentals have changed.

“We would be naive or foolish to go back to the way things were once the pandemic passes. If you want to gear up for a post-COVID world, you need to focus on what moves you forward rather than backward,” he said.

“There is no ‘safe’ way to go back to doing things after the tumultuous year that we’ve all experienced. The reality of today is, it’s insane to do the same things over and over again expecting to get the same result.”

McQueen also posed some questions that businesses should be asking themselves as they navigate their way through the post-pandemic world. These include:

  • What are some things that we need to stop doing?
    ‘Pruning’ is not just about getting rid of ‘dead wood’, it takes a lot more courage to cut away things that are still effective but no longer fit for the future  
  • What do we need to start doing?
    This question needs to be addressed by starting with the customer first and what is going to serve the customer better. The advice is to also not do too much too quickly.
  • What should we have not stopped doing?
    Businesses should consider going back to some of the things that worked pre-COVID or during COVID as not all innovation needs to be new

“There’s an appetite to get back to normal, but there’s a danger in this as well. We’ve got to be careful because we might miss opportunities when focussing too much on getting back to normal – you cannot find new treasure if you’re using an old treasure map,” McQueen added.

“You’ve also got to make sure that you’re looking after yourself – there has been so much trauma from what happened in the pandemic that small businesses, especially, are only feeling the weight of now.

“So, don’t rush stuff and get help if you need it. And look in the right places and take advantages of the opportunities out there.”

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